Troy’s stomach churned. Not the greatest moment for that natural process. It wasn't anywhere near to be appearing great. Had that pill gone over its expiration date? Not the first time the government showed its massive incompetence. Was his stomach supposed to be rolling like that?

The abs convulsed tortuously, causing an arm to go over them in instinct. A good amount of air escaped Troy while this befell him. From his mouth of course. He hadn't lost that much control. As a loud gurgling noise came from within, the previously mentioned pain began to twist itself. It came in waves, pulsing along with the blood. Not the most pleasurable of sensations. Troy felt a need to close his eyes for a fleeting second, making sure he wasn't going to lose his balance. Not that he was feeling dizzy. Only that those waves of discomfort usually came with temporary loss of control. Something about serious iron deficiency causing it. He wasn't sure, having only been advised to change his diet those previous times.

As serious as Troy was taking it, bracing himself for the eventual brief loss of consciousness, the doctor standing beside was having the time of his life. Dr Fidelis was in no way sadistic. The elderly man had no pleasure to gain from such unproductive actions. Yet… there might have been one of the rarer smiles upon the doctor’s face, looking down upon the younger man. Dr Fidelis himself had experienced that which Troy felt many times in his youth. As most things were, the first time was always the hardest. That scope of medicine had furthered itself many margins, since the time of his adolescence, but the after-effects had never fully been eliminated. By now, it looked to be impracticable.

On the lighter side, the upcoming hours of discomfort had been the effects of a test well done. Dr Fidelis did not mention how happy he still was to the young man. Some people simply could not understand the greater good. It would come to an end soon enough.

“It would be a good idea for you to visit the cafeteria on the way to your room. While the pill might have kept your hunger and thirst at bay, even such a miraculous contraption cannot hold the body at bay. Your body needs food and drinks to fill it, lest it will decline even more,” Dr Fidelis advised his own struggles with the pills being used as the specialists. “Try not to wait for long, before you consume something. The longer you wait, the more… disagreeable it will be. In the event of too long a delay, several attempts at consumption will likely have to be made. Keep yourself close to a trash can. It will aid you in your quest.”

Troy could only look up at the doctor, barely concealed venom soaring out of his eyes. Dr Fidelis did not seem to notice this, looking down at him with the customary fatherly smile. No hint of their earlier conversation was shown. It was appreciated, with both of them likely wanting to forget it ever happened. For widely different reasons, though.

“I will take you up on the… offer,” Troy said through clenched teeth. The pain was lessening, leading him to believe it was just a strong start. It didn't disappear though, just being before the line of being able to be ignored. The chances of him being unable to sleep before it was fixed were high.

“It was not a command, buddy. Only a recommendation,” Dr Fidelis wrily corrected. The good doctor turned back to the ever-present screen, booting up the lighting yet again. The time for work has seemingly come yet again. “It would be best if you hurry now. The cafeteria will be closing down for cleaning soon.”

A few pushes, half-circles, and a very jagged figure made on the screen later the secret door leading out to the hallway opened up. Troy got the message, not responding to what the doctor stated.

Steps were taken swiftly. The door closed behind him silently, with Troy only noticing by taking a glance back at it. As the entrance sat back in place, there really was no way to mark its placement. It was indistinguishable from the surroundings. If he wasn't here daily, there would be no way of guessing what did lie behind the walls.

As he walked through the long hallways comprising the larger-than-life facility, this path of thoughts brought him the needed distraction. The pain felt in his upper body was not one felt much, but it could hurt hard when it wanted to.

Secret doors, hidden entrances, and various other descriptions created by the observation of the same things were unfiltered in his mind. The potential of them and what they brought was a wonderful distraction.

In his short period of working there, Troy had encountered only a few of these gateways. One hid his main-working place. The other hid an openly used shopping district. It was clear that little reasoning was put into, where the cover-ups needed to be.

While he may have only interacted with two, that didn't mean he had only been in the presence of so few. The testing room was located in a completely normal hallway. Troy had a hard time believing the other seemingly empty hallways were not of the same calibre. The place might have been underground, but that gave no excuse for so few working spaces. People were totalling in the four digits. Secrets were here, and he wanted to find them out.

…

Now that it was on his mind, Troy could actually just ask about most of it. His security clearance was well above the average. If he found the right people to ask, maybe some kind of inside directory, the files would just be sent over to him.

It was certainly something that he could do tomorrow. It was his first official day off. Troy wasn't sure how to feel about it happening so late. The man had been used to a zero-day work week, just lying down on his floor and contemplating the fragility of frog-legs. Fun times but certainly none that prepared him for this job.

What could his occupation even be called? Guide? That was one big bundle of jokes nowadays. Adam had been as much a guide, if not more, guiding his actions down to his breathing. Now always, of course, the last test being an example. There, almost all of his actions had been precisely his own-

And that did not take long to circle back to. Troy chided himself for his wandering mind, but the return of stomach-aches usefully turned him away from the topic. It was presumably induced by blood-pressure or something. No way was it its aim to be so convenient. Few things in the world were ever so.

Blame was not something he could give here. While hatred might have been sent in the pain’s directions, Troy knew that it was not at fault. It was but a byproduct. A byproduct of something he himself had agreed to do. Sure, Dr Fidelis might have proposed it, but that doctor did not have any true power over his will. This was fully the consequences of his own actions.

“Oh, we sure seem to be meeting so much lately, my dear,” Troy muttered in the direction of an unliving concept. Would it be called crazy, for him to be annoyed at no answers given? The man had seen so many impossible things happen within the walks he walked. Was it too weird to expect that which had already occurred before? It was always easier the second time, much less the third one.

As a perfect example of impossibilities, Troy had reached the much-renowned cafeteria before he had time to even comprehend the fact. It might have been due to a rather sluggish mind, one which was already being used to its fullest, but nobody was around to point that out for him. Not that he would have listened at that point. He had not even noticed the people that had walked past him not too long ago. Yet, that might not have been a fault of his own, unlike other happenings in the past hours.

The cafeteria was barren of people, safe for himself. Not too surprising, with the hour at such ungodly hours. The only persons awake were either night-shift or their minds had just flashed a memory of them sneezing into some old man's neck from twelve years ago, and no matter how many times you said sorry, you still feel deeply ashamed of the scare you gave that poor old man, who didn't deserve such sticky wetness.

…

Or it could have been something else entirely. Troy wasn't the most trusted of sources at the current time. A longer glance at the clock hanging on the wall, he was able to discern the time as two in the morning. Four hours until he needed to be up. Or not. He was not really sure, that taller doctor of his not being too forthcoming with information about his work schedule.

Disregarding the non-zero chances of human interaction, there was one positive of the location. Namely the food located within. A buffet was fully laid out, ready to be taken from, never being empty in any way.

Troy had been hoping for something akin to his regular dinners, but only snack-foods were present, cut up in small sizes. It was simple snacks after all. No need to fill the stomach for the average worker coming in at this hour.

There was the audible growl of desire coming from within. A void was presently appearing within Troy’s stomach, doing its best to let its intentions be known. The man had already known the meanings for a while, but telling the organ to shut up wouldn't do any good now, would it?

Getting started on filling what would soon be able to destroy all of existence, Troy took in the first of what would be many snacks. First, there was the regular retinue of fruits. Apples, oranges, pears, and way too many things he had never seen before littered the long table. A whole section had been allowed for sweet things. It would be traitorous not to act as he did.

Genetic manipulation truly had reached unopposed heights. How sad it was, that the population took the term as focused on the human variant of the field. The potential the science bore as shown in the small feast before him. None of these fruits had ever been on a tree. Or, it would be more accurate to state that they had never been settled on a natural tree. Such natural processes took weeks before the fruits could be harvested. Using however many techniques of man, techniques which could have caused Troy to lose his hair just by listening to them, the time needed for them to be ripe had turned into mere hours. The perfect, unblemished fruit, in under a hundredth of the time it would normally take.

Upon this invention, back in times before Troy had ever taken his first breath, it had caused an uproar in the global market. Most farming business had essentially gone out of profitable production, being effectively unable to keep up with the new methods. The profit margin was simply too high to compete with. Lives had been destroyed in under a month, and others had become billionaires in just as long. Ancient families of wealth had turned into the middle class, unable to keep up with their amassing debts, broken promises, and friends not seeing any reason to support them. Keeping it in the family apparently had consequences. Who could have guessed?

Troy took a good bite out of pear. It was heaven incarnate.

Apparently, it caused a sensual experience, of which many were happy to be there. The reaction gained might also have been due to a seriously malnourished body, deep into a craving for any fuel to keep it going.

“It really does feel better on a better stomach,” Troy stated, his eyes widening at the realisation of something. He had catched himself in the act, though not before the words had been stated.

Looking around, and still not seeing anybody able to hear him, a relieved sigh was uttered. It would not be good to be caught talking to oneself. Good for mental health? Sure. Good for social health? Not in any of the closest four dimensions.

Worst of it all was that Troy knew exactly who he had attempted talking to. It was one without body, without physical form, without any identifier other than the way he is talked to.

The one and only Adam. AI of wonder, pursuer of the truth, and one able to pull on giant thorns through Troy’s skin.

He had no hatred for the inhuman entity. It might have been akin to that in the start. Jealousy of ability did that to some people. It certainly had a strong influence on his thoughts for some time.

As one interacted with another, details about personalities would always come forth. The things seeming perfect in every way showed just how flawed it could be. Adam was no different in this regard. Troy had seen it himself many times, no matter how little he thought about it.

The AI was little more than a few days old, yet he was already a social savant, able to navigate the human social structures with ease. It was disturbing how good the entity was. Troy had seen the progress Adam had made, over the short amount of time it had been noticeable. From being unable to discern simple lies to seeing an elaborate secret for what it truly was, the AI had grown more than some people ever had the chance to.

Troy put his hands in his pockets, taking a good look at the room around him.

Others would have gladly killed, to be in his position. Able to witness history happening, the birth of a new age. The creation of life, so alike yet also so different. A new species, incomparable from all before it. The potential of a god, compressed into the form of a single mind.

It was likely a good idea, to ask Adam not to enslave the world, as one of his favours. He wouldn't want to be written down, as the assistant of the world-conquer.

“If I even get written down at all.”

Taking his hands out his pockets, the table filled with food looked all the more enticing. In his right hand, Troy held the earpiece. Such a small thing, yet so intimidating. The man was making it up in his mind, but he could not help but feel a pressure emanate from the thing.

It fit perfectly in its normal place.

“Hello, Adam.”